rich9 As Adams’s Fate Hangs in the Balance, Cuomo Waits in the Shadows

For nearly three years since he resigned as governor of New York in the face of a ballooning sexual harassment scandal, Andrew M. Cuomo has been trying to forge a path back to public office.

The indictment of Mayor Eric Adams this week on foreign bribery and corruption charges may have offered Mr. Cuomo his clearest opening yet. The question now is whether he will seize it.

Mr. Cuomo, an exceedingly careful political tactician, gave no immediate hints. As other prominent New York leaders pushed out statements and calls for Mr. Adams to resign, the former Democratic governor remained conspicuously mum.

“He’s previously said he has no plans to make plans, and that hasn’t changed,” Rich Azzopardi, his longtime spokesman, said when asked about the governor’s intentions.

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But behind the scenes, allies and fellow Democrats who have spoken to him say Mr. Cuomo has spent months closely monitoring the investigations, gaming out a potential comeback after a yearslong public campaign to aggressively fight the harassment accusations against him.

His team has tested his strength in polls. He hosted donors at a members-only Manhattan club last December. And he has given a series of speeches to Jewish groups and Black churches — one as recently as Sunday — lamenting the state of the city.rich9

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